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Ever wondered why some people are sociopathic? Implicit in that question is the secondary question, or wish, that they could change for the better. If you believe that, I have a bad news-

A dodo cannot stop being a dodo, a virus cannot stop being a virus nor can a bunch of cancer cells stop being cancerous.

Similarly a MBA cannot stop being shortsighted, a businessman cannot stop being a CONman, a doctor cannot stop being a delusional control freak, a politician cannot stop lying, a police cannot stop being a petty tyrant, a professor cannot stop exploiting his students, a lawyer cannot stop suing and a CEO cannot stop looting.

They will keep on doing what they do till they are dead, from “natural” or unnatural causes.

The road towards a somewhat better world has to be paved with the bones of those who oppose it. There is no room for mercy, compromise or understanding because those who are blocking your path don’t see you as a human anyway. Why not return the favor?

Some of you might say- but doesn’t that lead to many unnecessary casualties?

My answer to that objection is- IF you feel that you have been wronged to a level and extent that is not redressable by the system, you have no reason to continue playing nice with it and its supporters. At some stage all widely held concepts of ‘right’,’wrong’,’fair’ or ‘unfair’ can become meaningless and the everything and anything is justifiable.

Do you really think that CEOs will stop looting the system if you pass new laws? Do you really think bad laws can be changed through the legislative process? Do you think that professors will become less petty when confronted by reality? Do you think that cops will willingly give up the perks of being a petty tyrant? Do you think that better people will ever enter politics? Do you think physicians will develop a moral compass? Do you think businessmen can stop cheating and screwing their customers? Do you think that MBAs are going to be able to appreciate the benefits of long-term thinking?

Even non-violent movements require a very real threat of violence to make them work. MLKs non-violent struggle for black civil rights succeeded because the alternate option was so much worse for white america. The new deal reforms and socialism for american whites occurred because the alternate option was once again worse for the ‘elites’.

However there are occasions when sociopaths are so detached from reality or so full of themselves that they ignore the obvious and dare the other side to act- and that is when things get interesting.

Now that multimedia capable and touchscreen driven tablet computers by both Amazon and Barnes and Noble have joined the iPad and its android analogues in the marketplace, I see the potential for a revolution in the type and form of comic books, especially those published by non-famous authors and artists.

Until like 2 years ago you average non-famous, but talented, comic book creator had the following crappy options-

1. Self publish something on the web and hope his work is noticed by big dead-tree publishers.

2. Self publish something on the web and try to monetize it by himself.

3. Create flash-based toons and put them on their own website, blog, YouTube or similar sites to gain cred and attempt 1 or 2– again.

As you can see, they lacked the ability to easily monetize their creativity. Moreover, even the best artist and creative mind cannot refine their craft if they don’t relieve adequate exposure and feedback.

The arrival of the iPad and its imitators created the ability to inexpensively view high quality visual content with the same ease as reading a book. The concurrent birth of a few unified marketplaces such as those created by apple and amazon to sell applications and content for their devices are the second piece of this potential revolution.

So, we now have a situation where independent comic book creators with good ideas and a decent computer plus some software could create something that can be easily monetized. While this new set of conditions is not going to make millionaires out of every aspiring comic book creator- they still represent a big improvement in the situation for aspiring comic book artists.

But few have paid attention to another aspect of this revolution- namely the revolutionary potential of the new format. Printed comics had to employ a variety of artistic techniques to create the illusion of motion and action. The change to a tablet computer format allows comic creators to create real action and motion within each frame of the strip.

They can now create AND easily monetize both full motion cartoons and frame based cartoon strips with user activated animation in a variety of formats ranging from classical 2D, 2.5D and 3D or any mixture thereof. I should mention that many of the old hindrances and obstacles to creating such content had previously fallen due to the availability of cheap computers and content creation software.

The tablet computer is going to become a far more versatile medium for comic books than its printed paper version could ever be. While the first major success on this new platform will resemble their printed paper version, the capabilities of these devices to render and present content in ways that are physically impossible on paper will result in the creation of comic books that are unlike anything today. It is also very likely that such path-breaking techniques will be discovered, utilized and optimized by non-famous independent cartoon creators.